


chasing shadows in grocery lines

by milfbyers



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Affairs, Angst, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-24
Updated: 2020-07-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 20:01:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25482082
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milfbyers/pseuds/milfbyers
Summary: the beginning and the end of the most well protected secret that was born in the shadows of hawkins, indiana
Relationships: Joyce Byers/Karen Wheeler
Comments: 3
Kudos: 10





	chasing shadows in grocery lines

the clock on joyce’s bed side table ticked away the silence the two were lying in. joyce could feel the sheets bunched around her waist. the white cotton was leaving imprints that would crease her skin to remind her of tonight when she’s pulling on her jeans the next morning in her usual rush for work. as if the pleads and whimpers that fell out of karen wheeler’s mouth and stained the walls of her room with their illicit affair would let her forget.

she pulled the sheet up to cover her chest as she rolled over on her side to look at the woman next to her. her eyes found karen’s in the dark and they looked vulnerable. almost as if karen was silently begging for answers to the unspeakable questions. ‘are you going to tell anyone?’ was the first one joyce found in the brown of karen's irises. she searched further, pushing past her blown pupils and kissed swollen lips to see if joyce could reach the one they both needed the answer to: ‘can we do it again?’ joyce reached out and brushed her fingertips on the underside of karen’s jaw. ‘yes’ she whispered into the dark, hoping karen knew which one she was responding to.  
joyce knew she understood when she saw hints of a smile beginning to bloom across karen’s face. joyce’s hands found the beginning of the sheet tucked under karen’s chin. ‘come here’ joyce whispered in desperation.

-

karen was gone the next morning before joyce could button her jeans. she went through the motions. she started her coffee, prepped her mug with two spoonfuls of sugar and fought with the idea of indulging in breakfast. it wasn’t until the familiar metal of her keys were pressed into her palm and she was halfway out the door when she saw the note. a small, pink folded piece of paper tucked into the pocket of her corduroy jacket. her heartbeat picked up as she pulled it out. the ink had bled through the paper and the letters were in half cursive. karen had been rushing to make it out the door before joyce’s boys could catch a glimpse of their mother’s irresistible vice, her most tempting sin.

joyce imagined her tucking her shirt into her jeans and doing her belt in the doorway. her cheeks began to burn red as she imagined the top of the pen stuck between the same teeth that bit at her own skin last night. her hand went up to her neck to feel the sore spot that was blossoming under her ear. she thought about karen cussing under her breath as she scribbled on the paper she had stolen from the stack of construction paper on the kitchen table. ‘same time, same place tomorrow night? please?’ joyce’s fingertip traced the words inked into the paper. intimate warmth curled in her stomach. she turned away from the door in search of her own paper to scribble a note on. when she was satisfied with her promise of ‘yes. please. meet me in our usual shadows.’, joyce folded it into fourths and tucked it into her pocket.

-

the clock on joyce’s bed side table ticked away the silence the two were lying in. except the silence was different this time. there was no bliss. no ache of satisfaction and tugging hands that whispered quiet pleads of ‘just one more go’. karen was turned away from joyce. and with that simple act of isolation, joyce knew. there would be no more. no more rustle of jeans in the morning or hushed declarations of love marked by teeth and nails left in desperation hidden by shirts and bras. no more blushing comments charged with secret tension in public. rather simply, there was no more. joyce accepted the fact that she was becoming the understudy to the main role. ted wheeler had beat her for the part of karen’s lover. but at least joyce had won a spot at all. she accompanied the hurt in her chest with the burn of her cigarette in her lungs. her thumb flicked the sparkwheel and she teared up at the comfort of the familiarity in the smoke hazing her vision. ‘you know, wheeler, you never told me what makes you strong and what makes you weak’ her voice was tense.

venom dripped off of the word ‘weak’ and pooled in the empty space on the bed between them. ‘because, joyce,’ karen’s voice was heavy with emotion and joyce recognized the sobs in her throat crawling up, as if they were accompanying every word she spoke. ‘you are both of those things. you are my weakness, obviously. as well as my strength.’ joyce shuddered at the confession. ‘i think i’ve seen how this ends before. at least your ending is different’ she watched the muscles of karen’s back flex as she turned back to joyce. their eyes found their way to each other in the dark. the rush of intimacy ran through joyce leaving her skin feeling burnt and her eyes welling with tears. it was her turn to look vulnerable as karen searched for unsaid questions she could whisper answers to.

‘will you come back?’ was the joyce wanted answered least and was the one karen could read the most. karen shook her head. if she was answering the question or acknowledging joyce's comment, joyce was never able to determine which one. ‘my ending may be different but it isn’t the one i want’. joyce broke eye contact and reached for another cigarette. the ‘please stay’ that threatened to fall off of joyce’s tongue sat in restricting silence between them. because joyce knew that if she begged, karen would stay. and joyce byers does not beg to be an illicit affair.

**Author's Note:**

> thank you taylor swift for releasing folklore and thank you annie (joycefinkels on twitter) for sending me 'obsession' by marina. 
> 
> milfbyers on twitter and milf-byers on tumblr <3


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